The Goose Egg

They say that pregnancy can make you clumsy. Again with the 'they,' and again I will ask,who are, 'they?' I suppose I am part of 'they,'because I have been pretty clumsy while pregnant. Am I clumsy when I am not pregnant? I don't think I really pay attention to that. I suppose because when you are clumsy when you are pregnant you are hyper aware of it so as to not crack the egg that sticks out in front of you. How then, I suppose, can you not be clumsy when you have this thing sticking out in front of you throwing off your balance?

When I was pregnant with Kendall, in about my 8 month, yeah real good month to fall, right, it was a cold and blustery day, and I was late for work. Without thinking for one second that there could perhaps be some ice on my front step, I charged out the front door, and after some theatrics which included some arm flailing, legs moving a mile a minute under me, and some twisting motions in an attempt to keep myself upright, I landed flat on my bottom on the bottom step. I of course sat there and cried and waited for my water to break like a pathetic loser, and nothing happened except for a really bruised backside. Kendall was still 2 weeks late.

Now you are thinking there is nothing clumsy about falling on ice, it happens all the time, but I will say this, that if did not have 20 pounds sticking out in front of me, with no junk in my trunk to even things out a bit, I would have been able to catch myself. Or would have flung myself forward onto the grass, but those that have been pregnant know, you do not by any means of the imagination let yourself fall forwards while pregnant. Things move in slow motion when you are falling while pregnant, if you didn't already know. It's as if you have time to think some logistics, 'well I am going to fall, and so if I move this way just slightly I will break my hand, but save the belly.' You are able to contort your body in all these crazy ways, if you are lucky, so that the belly is not smushed.

While pregnant with Ethan, I fell down the stairs. Oh no, it gets better, while carrying Kendall, and most likely a ton of other things because I am an obsessed multitasker like that. I have no idea what contributed to the fall, with the exception of carrying a million things and a baby, no that isn't enough. But before I knew it my legs came flipping forward from under me. In the again, slow motion movements, I knew I had to readjust Kendall so that I didn't land on her legs and cripple her for life from my weight, and to brace her and the belly for the fall. BAM! On the step. I swear my butt bone is going to break with one more of these impacts.

So onto the clumsy mishap of this pregnancy, which has topped all the others. So it was trash day. Imagine that, the trash can still sitting there, not by the curb, I might add. My husband conveniently cannot remember what day is trash day to save his life. It's like selective memory, and in just the last week they changed the collection days, so now it has only gotten worse. I am 100% certain many of you ladies can relate. There are many times that the trash is just about ready to get up and walk itself all the way to the dump before it is set on the curb. And I don't want to get into why I just don't do it. There are times I do, like this time I will talk about, but this is a man's job. And I don't care what anyone else has to say about it, there are certain things in a household that are strictly to be a man's job if there is one cohabitating with you, and taking out the trash is one of them, along with shoveling snow, and a few others.

So feeling annoyed about the trash situation I had going on that day, I decided to take it out. I had people coming over that night and smelly trash really is not make for a fine welcoming committee. But that wasn't where the problem was. The trash and the recycling were successfully put out on the curb that day, oh and again, by me, the pregnant one. You know, the one giving and sustaining life to another human being. The Merry Maids should be here daily. But then you think of the women in the fields who would just pop a baby out and keep on going, and then even just taking out the trash becomes a little prima donnish by comparison.

It was bringing the items back in that created the issue. I am always one moving with a million things on my mind. Going on to the next task with one half of my body while the other is completing the last one. This can become very hazardous, and has. So instead of using the steps, so wonderfully provided by our contractors to make life easier, I decide to grab onto one of the posts that holds up the porch that has the open space next to it. Because that was a 2 foot short cut? Seriously, because it was a two foot short cut which bypassed the chair that is sitting on the porch. So I have the recycle bin in one hand, grab onto the post with the other, pull up to plant my foot, and miss landing on the porch by a good 3 inches. This throws me off balance a little bit, and as my body wants to fall forward, directly into the concrete porch, with a direct landing on my belly, I pull forward hard and up. SMACK! That's right, face slamming into post. Awesome feeling. My immediate reaction is, 'I have lost teeth. I have lost teeth, I will not be able to get surgery because the baby can't have the medication used, and I will go into the delivery room a toothless fat person, the nurses are going to make fun of me!' I am not lying, this truly is my thought process. My second thought, also completely rational, 'I am going to kill Andy, if he had just taken out the trash this morning, this never would have happened.' Disregarding the fact that I was bringing in the empty trash receptacles that have nothing to do with taking the trash out in the morning when you really think about it. But that was besides the point, it's his man job!

So I walk inside, head spinning, lip swelling, forehead throbbing. I call Andy to let him know what happened and that if I am unresponsive on the floor when he gets home, he will know to always take the trash out for his future wives. He promptly tells me that he will hold ice on it when he gets home. I am will not even go into girls, not even for a minute.

I then decide to inspect the damage in the mirror. This is the first time I check the teeth since I am having major anxiety attacks surrounding the entire possibility of losing teeth. So I stick my tongue to where they are to be and feel resistance. Hallelujah. I then start moving them all around with my fingers to check and see if they are loose in any way. Nope. But my lip is all puffed out, and I have some cuts on the gum. Not to worry though because Andy is going to put ice on it when he gets home from work.

I move further up the face, nose will not require plastic surgery, good, good, and then there it is a goose egg sitting right there in the middle of the forehead. And then having the trash pile greeting my guests for that evening became a whole lot better of an option then this mountain growing on my forehead.

Once bruised and out in public the next day at BJ's, my neighbor, Danielle, thought that perhaps it was Ash Wednesday, I reminded her it was Friday. Her husband, later that evening, just thought I had a really good priest who got his hands on some really good ashes that didn't wash off as fast as the others. And ever since then people have asked, 'Is that a bruise and bump on your forehead?' And I get to retell the stupid story over and over again.

There are a few things I have learned in regards to this goose egg.

1. Is that they really do hurt, mine still really hurts when touched, or when I stick my head directly under the shower's flow.
2. When my children get another one of these on their heads I will not expect them to get over it in 10 minutes, more like 10 hours, or maybe even 10 days.
3. That a man's job is a man's job, let it be.

2009...wait...wait...2010

Happy New Year. Welcome to 2010. I still am dating everything '09, which is really great when you work in the medical field. Usually I transition just fine into a new year writing the dates and I get all proud of myself, I am a loser like that, but apparently my subconscious does not like the '10. I keep thinking of this baby and when he is old and gray,and it is the year 2093 people stating in disbelief...'You were born in 2010!?!?!' I don't know why 2006 and 2007 don't hit me like that,and why I don't feel bad for Kendall and Ethan in the year 2093, but I don't. It's this new decade, at the end of it I will be in my 40's, and driving a different minivan, and that people, is unfathomable.

To commemorate this turn of the decade, which some people for some reason like to make a stink about, that it hasn't been a decade, I don't know, they are stupid, it was 10 years, to me, that is a decade. Phew, this baby is kicking away right now, my fingers just kind of uncontrollably moved when it jolted my body. This one is going to be a porker. I am going to go ahead and say, this one is easily going to clear 9 pounds. I am going to talk to my doctor on Thursday about scheduled c-sections. And my argument will be, Britney Spears and all those famous people get to have them, why can't I? Do I need to schedule a press tour, because I can write a book or something. No in reality, he will look at me like I have lost my mind, offer me some medication, and tell me that he will see me and my vagina sometime at the end of April.

Side Tracked, back on... I decided to list my Top Ten Mommy Accomplishments of 2009, since after all, I am a Mom, and well, we are pretty awesome.

1. How could I not start with this one, Getting Kendall to poop on the potty, and not in my neighbor, Sue's, immaculate basement. What a feat, I thought we were both going to die...Sue almost did.

2. Having the tubes stay in Ethan's ears. I know in reality, this has nothing to do with me, however, what me and this kids ears have been through since his birth deserves some recognition. I was always on edge about his stinkin' ears. Screams in the middle of the night would wake me and have me buying bulk baby ibuprofen, regression in his speech would send me in a panic. But it looks as though those second set of tubes stuck. Way to go CHOP.

3. Taking over the entire basement as a playroom. What started as a man cave, with an itty, bitty corner for Kendall's toys, has now evolved into a full fledged playroom. So the big tv with the sound system is there. Nemo sounds pretty good on it. But the poker table is gone. The fridge is still down there, but it is now home to juice boxes and plastic food items. I left his Eagles football things on the wall because I don't have frames for the kids artwork that is going to go up in their place yet. But you know, if you move slowly and slyly, complete domination can be achieved.

4. The Wooden Spoon. Enough said.

5. Getting, or should I say, inheriting, a dog. I mean every family should have one. Sure he sheds. But when you get back from being gone for 15 minutes and he greets all of us like we were gone for months, you'll take never being able to pull of black again. They love Stanley. Stanley tolerates us, even if when he goes out to play in the snow, he too, has to bundle up...look how happy he is!! He adores us, it's so evident.

6. Teaching Ethan how to pedal a bike. It was so sad and funny at the same time to watch him with his little tricycle and having to push it with his legs because he couldn't figure out pedals. Kendall took to bike riding like she was Lance Armstrong and pedaled right out of the womb. Surely all kids just learn this easily, right? Wrong. Then there was my sweet Ethan, my soon to be middle child, who fits the description to a tee. However, with a little determination, some tantrums, and a little self pity, because all the other kids went, 'too fast for me,' oh and the push handle, this kid is ready for a bike with training wheels for his third birthday.

7. Getting rid of cable and living to tell about it. So taking a gander at the budget and seeing that HUGE cable bill every month was killer. So were we up for the challenge? I decided to tell Andy to get rid of it. We nixed. We joined many of our friends and got rid of the cable, goodbye access to children's shows whenever they are driving you up a wall. And let me tell you. I was a huge, huge t.v. watcher. You know I love Oprah. You know I am a judge on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. How am I surviving? Actually how is Andy surviving without ESPN? Well all I have to say for him is iPhone. Without it and its glorious apps, this man would have never survived. Me? Well I read more then I did before. The kids? Well they are now enjoying, 'Movie Nights,' where we all snuggle up and eat popcorn and watch movies together. And during the day, they watch some shows on dvd. But let me tell you, this whole thing has put my creativity to the test. Mommy is the Entertainer, full time. To those who don't let their kids watch t.v., you are like, well, 'duh, it's your job.' Thanks. So all in all, we spend more time together. Just like the parent magazines want us to, oh we are so perfect! We now have a little converter upstairs in our room only. I mean I would like to know if there is some world crisis I should be up on, but that is it. And let me tell you, honestly, it is no easier today then it was the first day. I can honestly tell you I miss putting the kids to bed and just vegging to the nonsense that would ensue on t.v. But I suppose I am better for it, right? I am, I think, right? Just tell me I am. The biggest challenge is yet to come. The first six weeks after birth when this baby sleeps on his own time. I used to go down to the basement and snuggle with the baby and console myself through the fact that I never got sleep by watching a show or something. Not this time! It is me, an insomniac, and a wall. Post Partum craziness, anyone?

8. I got knocked up...again. I went back and forth with this one, really I did. When I committed to the third child, I essentially committed to the fourth, since my darling husband doesn't want a middler. Was it that traumatic for him? I am fine either way, and so in a few years, read that honey, in a few years, if I am able get pregnant again, well I am committed to the fourth. I really wanted another baby. I have gone and lost it. However, when I had the miscarriage, I was like, here we go again, and I doubted that I could go through with all the testing, the shots, the medication, the appointments, for years on end again. So in my mind I wrestled with the whole thing. Why mess with a good thing? Two happy and healthy kids, maybe I should go back to school in a little bit? But Andy and I agreed to try for a bit, and low and behold thanks to my fabulous doctors and a some major intervention from the one who creates life, he showed us that his plan for us was another one, come what may, he chose us to be this little man's parents. For a little plug; I highly recommend both my God and my doctors if you are having some fertility issues of your own.

9. Completing Kendall's Disney Princess Barbie and movie collection. This child is all about princesses. She is a princess, she plays with princesses, and if you don't like princesses, well then don't come her way. This Christmas when asked what she wanted from Santa she replied, 'Pocahantas and Tiana Barbies, and the Pocahantas movie, that way the set can be complete.' Good thing Santa could come through with this request, and that Santa stood in line on Black Friday in the Disney Store at 7:30 a.m. to get that special Tiana doll from the Disney Store, because they are 'fancier.' They are, I will attest to it. So we have appeased our wanna be princess who asks her Daddy if he would like to dance on the kitchen floor which in her mind is not covered in crumbs, but is a great ballroom, and then proposes marriage to him. Every.Single.Night. It also seems like Ethan will have to be the gallant prince who wakes the princess with a kiss at least 20 times a day upon demand, a little longer. But just when you think you are through, and the set is in fact complete, it is now, 'Well we will need all the princes to go with these princess dolls, and when does Tiana come on video so we can watch it here?' Thanks Disney.

Drumroll please...the 10th Mommy Accomplishment...

10. So this really isn't an accomplishment, well it is, you have to understand the wonderfulness of this to really deserve this. You have to have provided well for your family using alternate methods for a really long time to understand the true meaning of this. And you have to commit yourselves to provide even better for your family once you have this. You have to give it it's own space, clean it daily, and sit and stare at it at least 3 times a day.

You have to know what to use this for properly to really be an accomplished and respectful user:

That's right, mashed potatoes do taste better when whipped by the whisk attachment to your own...


That's right, there she is, Black Beauty. I screamed for 10 minutes straight when I opened this Christmas morning. That my friends is a true devotion. It was set in it's place that evening and has been pissing off all the other appliances since it's arrival, most especially Mr. Hand Held Mixer. I will again state that; No Trista, the hand held mixer is not easier then the Kitchen Aid Mixer, you have lost your head.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

Merry Christmas

You won't be hearing from me until after the Christmas Festivities, so until then Feliz Navidad. I hope you get all your gifts wrapped, I am not even close. Enjoy the videos!

Must Have

Ok, so I am perusing the web, catching up on old posts of other bloggers, and I come across these posters on cjane that she is advertising, and for a moment, my world stopped spinning. I cannot go on with my life without some of these prints for my home.

Here is the main site:

http://www.zazzle.com/logophilia/gifts#products

Here are those that I must have, in the near future, preferably, so that I can gain composure again. Nothing excites me more then a good find for the home that fits so perfectly you want to scream your head off.

http://www.zazzle.com/11_x_14_raise_hell_then_sleep_well_full_bleed_poster-228770560495137703

I do not care one bit that the word 'H' 'E' double hockey sticks is used in this poster. I think it is hilarious and perfect for the boys room when they get a little bit older to understand that it is a funny phrase, not one we use, per se, but very appropriate. I can hear my mother now, 'I cannot believe that a mother of small children would have that on her wall.' She is gasping and making sounds like she thinks it is the worst offense, when really, she thinks it's funny too.

I also have this half wall separating my kitchen from my living room that is just dying to have these 3 prints on the kitchen side framed in black, right in a row. I'm just saying, it might look good, that's all.

http://www.zazzle.com/11_x_14_julia_child_i_multi_color_poster-228987609937231753

http://www.zazzle.com/11_x_14_woolf_on_food_i_solid_color_poster-228913973144487167

http://www.zazzle.com/11_x_14_russian_proverb_solid_color_poster-228806644044916643


I think this may have overtaken the black kitchen aid mixer for a couple of moments, time to get on it babe, these are way cheaper!

Where's the Tip?

Ok, so I didn't send out holiday cards this year. Had I known some people counted on them like they count on Starbucks having holiday lattes, I would have pulled through for you. But since most of you read this I'll just go ahead and figure you get your own special version here, and maybe just maybe, although you can't hang it on your door, wall, string, window, special card holder, this will suffice. If you didn't care if you got a tip from me on the holidays, well then Bah Humbug, and I hope you like your coal.

Another Holiday Tip from our home to yours...

Jack Frost nipping at your nose, is not festive to small children.

Here's hoping your Holiday is filled with hot chocolate and warm cookies.

Merry Christmas.

Love,

Andy,Melissa,Kendall,Ethan,the bun in the oven,and our mascots; Lillian & Stanley

Charlie Horses*

There is the little man. Such a cutie for some cartilage and all. Look at the noggin, looks like he takes after his mama like the other two. Large heads are a sign of intelligence. I think I made that up, but it sounds good. I think it just comes from my grandfather, which comes from his mother, and most of us who come from that wonderful ancestry have big heads and big boobs. Well except for the men of course, but you never know, they put on an extra few pounds…they may be more susceptible to man boobs, I wouldn’t risk it, I’m just putting the warning out there. But it was refreshing to see that it looks as though he will have a cute little nose, again, one of my fears, the child comes out with this giant schnoze, and well, it’s just awkward for everyone involved.

As I have said before, I have popped. Considerably so. There was this Christmas song we learned in elementary school that we would sing in a round, and each time I pass myself in the mirror, I start to sing, ‘Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat…’It’s like my theme song. I am always pregnant at the holidays. The rest of the song goes on about pennies, and putting them in a hat, which is irrelevant, but just the same the song comes to my head. Like I have mentioned before, sometimes my life plays to a soundtrack in my head, but I have no control over the choices. When I see kids who have just learned to walk toddle around, in my head the song plays, ‘Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down,’ and I will continue to sing it for the rest of the day. Now if you know it, you will too.

You know the show with the girls that didn’t know that they were pregnant? I will never ever be able to say that, ever. It’s like whoa, she’s pregnant. I could be really spiteful and say, ‘no, it’s a hernia,’ or just, plain and simple, ‘no I’m not.’ But that would be just mean. But regardless, I would never believe these stories unless I was a personal witness to one, which I will not divulge in because that is not my job, but let me just tell you, no, by all means, no way, would I have known that she was pregnant and about to deliver. That my dear readers, is the way to look. I am sure it is a shock, and I am certain it would be a little easier to show then to one day be like, ‘oh yeah, I just had a baby last week, no, no I didn’t adopt it, it came from my uterus.’ But it beats the extra two feet that is going to stick out in front of me in the end of all of this. Oh and the baby was born fine, cute, healthy, and a toddler now. But I am a believer that it could happen. Kendall didn’t move much during my pregnancy with her, and you would be able to convince me the subtle movements were gas if I didn’t have a fourth chin and a stomach that rounded the corner before me.

I sound like a big fat complainer when it comes to pregnancy, and I am not. I do love being pregnant. I love that there is life growing in me, from me and Andy, but I feel it is my duty to relate to all you other pregnant women out there, who were, are, and will be pregnant. Not only that, it is the ultimate excuse…’I can’t do that, I am pregnant,’ or ‘I can’t do that, it might hurt the baby,’ or my personal favorite, ‘Yeah, well I’m pregnant, beat that!’

So some of the symptoms that are aching me right now comes compliments of the growing child. It is supposed to be close to 2 pounds right now, but you would think it was 25. First and foremost, the round ligament. You wouldn’t even know you had it until it starts to take some pressure, and then you are like, ‘hello, did I just do 5,000 sit-ups and compete in a tractor wheel lifting contest last night in my sleep?’ This muscle, when agitated, will cause you to waddle like a duck, cause you immense pain when rising from just a simple sitting position, and will sometimes have you thinking that the baby is just going to drop right on out. It is located right under the growing belly. It hurts right on down through your crotch; it’s really grand like that. The only relief you will feel is sitting or lying down without moving and nobody touching you or rocking anything near you that might cause you to stir, so you best surround yourself in yellow caution tape, or holding your crotch like you have to pee. Both of these situations, as you can see, are real conducive to having you look like a complete degenerate. Kendall is always asking around the house, ‘Mom, you have to pee,’ I just simply say, no Kendall it’s the counter pressure’, and waddle to the next activity. If you see me in public and I am holding my crotch, don’t tell me about it, just stand in front of me so others don’t see. The pain is that bad sometimes. I warned you on the first blog about this; it would be graphic in nature, so just stop reading now if you don’t like it.

Next are the Charlie horses in the leg. Don’t tell me to eat a banana. These typically happen at about 3 in the morning. And the pain is so bad that I just want to kick Andy. I am one of those that if I am in pain I want to kick or hit something really hard. When I went into labor with Ethan, as I was waiting for Andy to get ready, anything that was on the floor was punted across the room. I am getting pretty good with them, and I know to just freeze. To not even blink, it might set it off. I pray to God to keep Andy still. But if it catches me by surprise and I point my toes like you want to do instinctively when you have a Charlie horse, the pain resembles to me what it might feel like to have had your leg muscle attacked by a wolverine.

Lastly is the water retention. This too seems to happen only at night. If my clothes are bunched up, if the blanket isn’t straight beneath me, when I wake up to go pee, I will feel this stinging sensation on my skin. When I lift my shirt or pant leg to investigate in the mirror I will see skin indentations so deep it causes a ridge when I run my fingers over it. It’s like a braille map that leads to nowhere. The other night I fell asleep with Kendall in her bed, and she has this book that has little puffy letters on the cover. I must have been lying on it, for when I woke up, felt the sensation, and lifted my shirt, my side read, ‘The Cat,’ ok people, talk about swelling. There is a reason I am pregnant in the winter, if it were August, I would look like a wrinkled mess all day. You would be able to just poke me, and there would be an indent left.

So as you can see, sleep is just wonderful. It is all worth it, of course, in the end I will hold a little miracle, but it is not for the weary. Many say they would like to have their husband be pregnant for one day so that they could relate and see what it is really like. I could not disagree more. Have you taken care of a man who has the common cold? The cold that you and the kids had just last week and managed to function fine with, which has now crippled this man? Yeah, just remember that.

Oh and the Frank & Beans

Good Vibrations

Phew, finally some time to blog, I know you have been waiting with bated breath. It's sort of like a comeback, I mean a month without blogging, that is absurd. Not that I didn't think of you often, really I did and I thought, yeah, when I have the time, and when I am not completely exhausted, and when the kids are restful for an hour, I will blog. Low and behold, that never happened.

So the comeback. There have been some really failed comebacks like um, lets see MC Hammer, Debbie Gibson, Whitney Houston, so on and so forth. They were really embarrassing comebacks, I kind of feel bad for them. But Marky Mark, now Mark Whalberg, he made an excellent comeback. Maybe it was the career switch, but there are those that can't even do that successfully. But to go from 'Good Vibrations,' to where he is now, that is something. I mean what happened to his brother, Donny? Now that is embarrassing. I kind of think the character in Mark's produced show, 'Entourage,' Drama, is based on Donny, always trying to be on par with his older brother and his success, but never getting there, but was famous first. What a tough break. But I absolutely love the show, 'Entourage,' it is about nothing I am interested in, but it has that cool flavor about it. My favorite characters aren't even the main ones, they are Ari, Lloyd, and Shauna, all played so perfectly. I mean sure, Debi Mazar's character has a foul mouth, but isn't the accent great? Oh, I miss HBO...saving money...in recession...sacrifice...right...Netflix, anyone? Great gift idea!

So anyway, Mark Whalberg is behind 'Entourage,' again adding to his comeback, which really isn't a comeback anymore is it? I mean he isn't in Calvin Klein ads anymore, and he isn't self-tattooing, 'Nicole 4-Eva,' onto his chest, which by the way didn't that just ruin the movie for you when you were like 17? It was good up into that point, and then he goes and does that. I remember laughing out loud. Back on point, he is now a successful actor, a family man, I enjoy the movies he is in, he has that awkwardness about him that teeters on that line, like he could really make a left turn and deliver some bad acting, but he makes wise film choices, which lead him to the right, must have a good entourage himself.

So onto my little gone a month and back comeback, hopefully it will be like my friend Mark's. As you may have picked up on, we are having another little boy. Another little man, a friend for E so he doesn't have to play Barbies all the time. I had a Level II ultrasound at the beginning of the month. My doctor, the micro machine man, more on that later, decided that he didn't like my folic acid level, and said he wanted to make sure everything is alright. Turns out it is fine, and the child may have the middle name Popeye, due to all the folic acid that goes in my body. I jest, but really I am thankful he had me double checked. I go back and forth about showing the pic of the frank and beans, and some of the others, but I mean what's the harm? Maybe later this week. I think he would be proud, I was like, 'uh yeah, that's a definitely a boy', before the tech even said it, you couldn't miss it. Takes after his big brother, and I won't go further down the lineage then that, that would be crossing a line.

I count it as pregnancy hormones, but sometimes while I watch E sleep I cry because he won't be my baby boy anymore. It's ridiculous I know, I don't cry over Kendall and that she won't be my baby anymore as she slumbers, and I love her just the same, but that baby boy bond, oh how it binds. On second thought, this might be a good thing for E and I. Kendall is my little lady, I look at her and I see me, she acts like me, she talks like me, in some ways I feel a bigger responsibility towards her to bring her up to be a strong, well behaved girl, so in many ways I expect more from her. She is the oldest, by a mere 13 months, but still, and she is the girl, she could be the leader of the pack if this was my last. The doctors want me all done with babies by the time I am 35 to keep me, the pregnancies, and the babies healthy since they aren't really sure what is up with me and my fertility issues, just that it is a gene thing, and the older the eggs, the more susceptible they are to weakness and abnormalities. We say we want 4, but we really can't be picky...I mean 3? They weren't sure I would have one. So Kendall, like me, is the oldest, we are the leaders, there is a little bit of some expectations with that, and to be the big sister of 2 boys, that ain't going to be easy. Do I cry over Kendall, sure I do, but mostly because she is growing so quickly, and I also just made her eat soap for sassing me, again. Oh going from 2 to 3 is going to throw me for a loop, especially with three years off, I never had so much time in between babies, you think my laundry pile is high now!?!?

So the pregnancy is progressing. In typical form, I look like I am 42 weeks instead of 23, but what are you going to do? I mean it's the holiday season, that is the ideal time to be pregnant, ok so not so much after birth, when the summer is around the corner and you resemble a pale beached whale for months, but I will enjoy my cookies now. Maternity clothes is pretty awesome like that. Remind me I said this about mid June when I am telling you that my body is jiggly in places it shouldn't be, and when I want to take some scissors to my gut and perform my own tummy tuck. Sterile, of course.

When you are tired and it is your first pregnancy, I will give it to you, that is rough to feel that exhaustion that pregnancy brings for the first time, but by the second trimester, it lifts. The second time around is a little different, the exhaustion doesn't lift until about 16 weeks, but you know what to expect. The third time around, I am here to tell you, I would never lie, it doesn't lift. It doesn't go away, ever. I tell you what, naps would be great, but you don't get them when your three and a half year old doesn't nap, and wants you to watch a Barbie movie with her while her brother naps, and asks you every 5 minutes, 'Mommy, I thought you were watching this with me, open your eyes, you will miss the best part.' I want to say, 'Well Kendall, I got the best part the first 378 times we watched this movie, it's ok if I miss it just this once,' but I don't, and in my best exhausted Mommy voice, I say at the end, 'you were right Kendall, that was the best part.'

Andy likes to tease me that it must be easy sleeping in until 10 a.m. everyday, since it is around that time I first check in with him when he is at work. Truth is, is that is when my brain starts functioning to the point where I can have a conversation beyond, 'What would you like for breakfast? What show did you want to watch while I make breakfast?' and 'It's ready!' I mean actually making breakfast is pushing it. I am at the point where it isn't comfortable to sleep, so I don't fully rest. I get up 5 times to pee, and there are things that occur to my body, which I will go into in my next post that really make sleep sometimes painful. Like leg cramps, round ligaments, and water retention.

And in all honesty should the man really have anything to say about when I sleep till? I mean I am the one carrying the extra weight, walking like a duck, dealing with heartburn from just putting some pepper on my baked potato, out of breath when walking up a flight of stairs, so on and so forth, and in the end, getting to push this thing out of my vagina? An episiotomy is not some grand prize or war wound to show to your pals. How would you liked to be sewed together from one hole to another? Yeah, that's what I thought, let the beast sleep.

If my children want to be angels and let their poor impregnated mother get some extra rest before they put her through non stop preschooler entertaining for the next 9 hours until their father gets home, then so be it. And I am here to tell you, the children wake at 8 a.m., the dog wants to pee at 8 a.m., that sounds like a wonderful treat to some mothers, and it is, but I run them ragged, I do. I do everything in my power to make them exhausted at the end of the day. We do not stop, all day. Sure that may make it worse on me, but I think being pregnant and up at 6 a.m. would be worse. It's not child abuse, we have fun, can I help it if they sometimes fall asleep in the upright position?

And that is where we are at, now if you will excuse me I have to go and feed children who are hungry and tired from playing in the snow, but the comeback is in full swing.

The news from Mt. Hood is not what we intended to hear, which I am sure you are fully aware of right now. I can only imagine the pain her family experienced as they made some heart wrenching decisions in the past few days. The strength her father displayed when speaking at the press conference was unbelievable.We can only pray that Katie is at peace, that she is rejoicing in heaven at probably one of the best times.

The Lord blesses those who devote their lives to him, their work, their everything. What riches Katie is receiving as her life was a full testimony. So short a life, but so full of adventure with God as the focus. Awesome.

Continue to pray for her close friends, her family, those that will pursue recovery when the time comes.

Continue to pray for the other families of Katie's friends and fellow hikers.

Continue to follow Amy's blog as Memorial Services are planned on each coast for Katie.

Mt. Hood

I promise, I promise, new post coming, updates, ultrasound picture of some frank and beans instead of a hamburger, so on and so forth. I have been brought to post to raise awareness and prayer for a college friend of Andy and I. I have mentioned recently on facebook that Katie is a girl with a gentle spirit, a love and devotion to the Lord that is admireable,a drive and determination to do what is just, a caring heart, and a person that is filled with adventure. The woman she has become is no doubt exactly who she is supposed to be. I can remember seeing her at a wedding a year or so ago with her hair knotted in this dreadlock mess, but she was beautiful, and you know me, I marched right on up to her and blurted out, 'you are the only person that I have even looked at with dreads and thought, that looks really good!' She laughed and said, 'well it really cuts down on the whole hair maintenace thing.' You know me, just blunt like that.

If you don't know by now, Katie is one of the hikers that is missing on Mt. Hood. I, like many others I know, are always searching for updates, praying for weather changes, and a miracle. The best sources I have found have been provided through a local oregon website, as well as her friend Amy's blog that she just started. As you will see in pics, Amy was a close friend of Katie's, and my heart goes out to each of them that held Katie close. I can only imagine the heart wrenching emotions her family and close friends are experiencing. If you can, pray for them. Pray for Katie and Anthony. Pray that no matter what their situation may be, that they are feeling the Lord's warm embrace. Pray for the hiker and friend that was with them that lost his life. Pray for Luke's family. It is starting to seem as though he may have been going for help. Pray for those searching for them. Pray for their endurance, pray that they are kept safe and warm, and pray that they are led in the right direction.

Here are the links to the websites you can follow:


http://mthood2009.wordpress.com/

http://www.oregonlive.com/

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. ~Leo J. Burke

Sleep while being pregnant is like nothing else. You can’t even control it. It is borderline narcolepsy, most especially the first trimester. You will just be sitting there watching a show, a movie, reading a book, even talking, and the next thing you know you are waking up in the middle of the night having to pee. What was that all about? It’s as if there is a little alarm that goes off in your uterus which sends a message to the brain and then you just shut off. There is no warning.

When I am pregnant, I totally get hibernation. The need to just sleep like it’s your job for basic survival. This past week I have been falling asleep when the kids fall asleep, and waking up when they get up. This is close to 12 hours people. I am not sure what Andy’s excuse it, but who, as an adult woman with children does this, if they are not pregnant? If you do, I would like to see your bathrooms, they are messy, and you know it. You better believe this needs to be rectified because a newborn does not sleep. If I continue to sleep for 12 hours a night throughout my pregnancy, I will die when the child comes, just roll over and die from sleep deprivation shock.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not a straight through sleep. I get up to pee at least 4 times. That or someone will bump their head on a wall or be out of their blankets, yelling that they are cold, which leads to me having to pee simply because I moved. This pee thing is outrageous. I think I drink enough to warrant maybe 5 or 6 bathroom stops during the day. Now the 10-15 more stops that I am averaging is just not right. And I am here to tell you that the other day Kendall brought a book to me while I was peeing that had to be read right then and there, so I sat there and read it, and I was like a leaky faucet throughout the entire book. At one point I turned to her and asked her to go and get a wrench.

The only one that truly adores this whole lengthy sleeping thing is Stanley. Things just don’t get done like they should when I am in a sleep induced coma, but he could care less. He will curl up in the blankets of my bed dreaming of trapping that nasty cat Lily in the corner and smacking some sense into her, snoring right along with me. It must be the short legs, or some pregnancy sympathy, but this dog is exhausted at the end of the day.
He in fact is taking his mid morning nap next to me as I type this, and keeps eyeing me as if he is saying, ‘come on you know you want to.’

When I was pregnant with Kendall I think I slept a lot more then this one. I would come home from work and crash on the couch until Andy got home, eat, and then go back to bed, and on Saturday mornings, forget about it, I don’t think we saw them. With Ethan it was a little different, I had Kendall to care for when I came home from work, I am sure I went to sleep when she did, but that child did not like to sleep, if she slept 6 to 7 hours a night I was happy. Perhaps that is why Ethan loves sleep so much, he had no restful sleep in the womb, and has to make up for it now. I do remember however falling asleep at my desk at work with both pregnancies because if I didn’t I would surely pull over on the side of the road on the way home and have to take a nap. There were a few of us pregnant in that place at different times, and each of us fell asleep so hard that we drooled on our blotters. So much for helping the children in need, but come on, what is 20 minutes? The rest of us that shared an office, would just whisper to each other softly so as not to disrupt the sleeping pregnant beast. So with this one, I need to be alert during the day, Kendall does not nap anymore, yeah big surprise, and so I am Mom on Duty for 12 hours, rest only comes at night. If the children wake up earlier then 8 a.m. my day is done, the rest was not complete and I stare lustfully all day long at blankets, pillows, beds, couches. Even the premade beds in department stores tempt me. Don’t they look just so comfy, all fluffy, with the 75 pillows just sitting there waiting for you to curl in? I mean who would really care if I just tested it out for 15 minutes?

Don’t get me wrong, there are some days while Ethan is napping that I put on a Barbie movie for Kendall that she just loves and curl up next to her and nap. Anyone might nap though, in that situation. Have you seen those movies? They are for sure right up her alley, but if I watch more then 15 minutes my eyes start to bleed. Kendall loves them; I mean loves them so much she reenacts them for the remainder of the day. Oh Barbie. I will admit though that I played Barbie’s right up into my tween years, and I loved them. Have you seen the new camper they have out this year? I just might start playing again.

So if you need to catch up on some sleep, go ahead and get pregnant and then it is forced. Or just take a day off, whatever floats your boat. Regardless, I will see you in dreamland.